Web 2.0 for school superintendents

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jared Bloom on July 15, 2008 at 6:12pm

I would be very interested in joining in any administrative discussions on this site. As a school district administrator, I am constantly looking for ideas and best practices in web 2.0 and communication technology. Another website dedicated to school leadership in a web 2.0 format is
http://schoolleadership.ning.com. Although the site was created for Western Suffolk Boces in LI, NY...members from all over the country have joined the conversations on the site. It will give you an opportunity to become familiar with web 2.0 technologies and discuss technology and traditional school district issues.

Permalink Reply by Barry Bakin on July 16, 2008 at 9:31am

From the Web 2.0 in Adult Education blog http://webtwopointohinadulted.wikispaces.com/
which features uses of web 2.0 tools by adult educators, are these two blogs by administrators:
- John Kerr, Baldwin Park ACE
http://www.bpace.k12.ca.us/users/johnkerr/

- Martha Rankin, Newport Mesa USD Adult Ed
http://adultedmatters.wordpress.com/

You can see how they are using their blogs to inform the community, open and maintain lines of communication with faculty and staff and as a tool for accreditation. As a superintendent, you could find similar uses at a district wide level.

In my own humble opinion, perhaps the greatest service you can provide as a superintendent (after providing an example of positive uses of Web 2.0 technologies in your own practice) is to act from the top down to remove technical and political impediments to their use in the classroom. Send the message to school administrators and technical support people that Web 2.0 tools have a use in the educational setting. Help to create an atmosphere where local administrators and technical folk are seen as assisting teachers to access Web 2.0 tools in a way that meets technical requirements and interests as opposed to blocking access automatically and requiring teachers to fight for access at every level!

Permalink Reply by Patty Harris on July 30, 2008 at 7:26pm

Hello Gary,

I am TX Superintendent certified since 2003 and still aspiring to be a 21st Century Superintendent.

From my recent MS in Ed Tech, I recommend Google docs.

They are a free Google tool which allow you to invite collaborators to network and record the ongoing dialogue, on any number of topics.

docs.google.com/

User-friendly and the price is right. Good Luck!

Patty

Permalink Reply by Michael Staton on July 31, 2008 at 3:30pm

Patty, Let me know if you get a post in Texas. I'm from there, taught there, and now have a web 2.0 outfit and would be happy to get you guys up and running.

Permalink Reply by una raimondo on July 31, 2008 at 11:00am

Gary I am a Principal in W. New York. A superintendent who inspires me is Neil Rochelle. Go to the web site of Iroqois Central School District. Niel has a blog and is very up to date in terms of web. 2.0 technologies. You are welcome to view my blog at www.21stcenturyleader.edublogs.org. I would appreciate comments particularly to the post on roll out plan which I intend to do this September 2008

Permalink Reply by Barry Bakin on July 31, 2008 at 11:29am

Thank you for the reference to the Iroquois Central School District blog by Neil Rochelle. It's really quite inspiring to see a superintendent's efforts to incorporate web 2.0 technologies into school district management. He even has a blog for students to make comments about any aspect of the school district. Of particular interest to users of Classroom 2.0 are the student comments about their feelings about using blogs and wikis as part of their classwork. They're worth reading as cautionary notes for teachers trying to implement such tools in the classroom, because not all are positive, and the reasons the students mention highlight pitfalls of blog/wiki use that could be avoided with careful planning and implementation.

Permalink Reply by Neil A. Rochelle on July 31, 2008 at 7:25pm

A thank you to Una for the referral and Barry, thank you for the compliment. I do believe that modeling is the key to getting our students and teachers interested in using tools on the web. The growth that has taken place in the past two years is incredible. I'm glad you pointed out the cautions from student feedback. While we do believe integrating the learning to make it meaningful is best, we are going to begin to identify benchmark beginning in 6th grade computer classes to begin to introduce the Web 2.0 tools to students. This will continue through middle school and will fit nicely with the technology expectations in NY at 8th grade.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Rigby on March 31, 2009 at 11:23pm

Hi Gary,

I am currently working on a Problem Based Learning Project for a Graduate Tech Class involving a proposal which provides the scaffolding for how each school in the district will use a blogging site to collaboratively assess technology needs, analyze the data, and make recommendations, thereby creating and maintaining each school's Technology Plan online. These sites could be linked to your department for ease of reporting, more collaboration, and maintenence. Your department could even use this process to create the district's tech plan.

If anyone has had any experience implementing something like this, I would be very interested in hearing how it went!

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